Are we making fun of Hu Jintao? Are we saying Wen Jiabao has a horse-face? Are we commenting on Xi Jinping’s inability to move his hips laterally? Help me out here. How is 1) this picture at all political, other than the politicians? and 2) this picture at all insulting?

The images of Chinese leaders are carefully managed by propaganda leaders, and the suggestion that they would dance in formation and shake their hips is certainly unwelcome.

Last week, China underwent a once-in-a-decade leadership transition. So it’s an even more dangerous time to make jokes about the country’s leaders than usual. Chinese Twitter user Zhao Xiaobin discovered that on Nov. 7, when he was arrested and put in a Beijing jail. His only crime was telling a joke on Twitter.